BRUNSWICK

The Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority wants to expand service to and from Brunswick and Freeport. But to do that, it needs more than just a proposed train shed planned for the West Brunswick area.

NNEPRA needs track siding in Falmouth and Yarmouth.

To do that, it needs money, but their most recent grant application to the U.S. Department of Transportation — for $14 million — was rejected earlier this month.

This was NNEPRA’s third attempt at gaining DOT’s Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery funding.

NNEPRA Executive Director Patricia Quinn said the authority was not given a reason for the denial.

“The program is very over-subscribed,” said Quinn. “There were $8 billion worth of requests for $500 million worth of funding. On the national scale, I guess our project didn’t top the list. It is a competitive program.”

Currently, there are five round-trips daily between Boston and Portland, and two round-trips from Boston to Brunswick.

The additional siding would have allowed for five round-trips daily from Brunswick to Boston by allowing Downeaster trains the ability to bypass some track that is owned by freight carrier Pan Am.

“It would have had Brunswick be the hub for the entire service,” said Quinn.

NNEPRA was also hoping to use the fund- ing for improvements near the Portland station, and had already secured $4 million for both projects.

Meanwhile, Quinn said there isn’t currently an alternative source of funding. NNEPRA is limited to where it can gather funds for the track project, and it doesn’t look like there is an opportunity to get funding through a state bond.

“Right now, TIGER is the only place you can go to for transportation funding,” said Quinn. “There is a shortage of funding for all transportation projects, particularly for rail.”

The lack of TIGER funding won’t affect plans for the train shed, according to Quinn.

However, construction on the $12 million, 60,000-square-foot train shed can’t be done until it gets a stormwater permit for the facility.

The shed’s permit was vacated in July by a Superior Court judge because abutters to the site weren’t properly notified.

NNEPRA’s contractor, Fay, Spofford & Thorndike, reapplied for the permit in August but was reportedly told by the Department of Environmental Protection that the new application lacked sufficient information. At the same time, the DEP commissioner sent six pages of questions covering

21 areas of concern, ranging from the oil storage tanks to stormwater run-off.

Another application and additional information was sent to DEP in September.

On Oct. 3, the DEP wrote to Fay, Spofford & Thorndike that the application was “found to be acceptable for processing.” The department will reach a final decision on the application by Dec. 17, although a decision could come sooner, according to the DEP.

Construction can’t start until the DEP makes its final decision.

Opponents of the shed said they are hoping the DEP rejects the application.

“We’re hopeful again that the application for the stormwater permit will be rejected for a lack of completeness, and the lack of addressing the pertinent points we think need to be addressed,” said Robert Morrison of Bouchard Drive, who chairs the Brunswick West Neighborhood Coalition.

The coalition objects to the facility, in part, because they said it will change the character of the neighborhood and will lower property values.

Morrison declined to get into details over what the latest stormwater application lacked.

“We’re still looking at people who can’t sell houses. It continues to be a real touchy subject,” Morrison said.

jswinconeck@timesrecord.com

More round-trips

CURRENTLY, THERE ARE five roundtrips daily between Boston and Portland, and two round-trips from Boston to Brunswick.

The additional track siding in Falmouth and Yarmouth would have allowed for five round-trips daily from Brunswick to Boston by allowing Downeaster trains the ability to bypass some track that is owned by freight carrier Pan Am.